Redesigning care delivery with patient support personnel: Learning from accountable care organizations

Abstract

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are a value-based payment model in the United States rooted in holding groups of healthcare providers financially accountable for the quality and total cost of care of their attributed population. To succeed in reaching their quality and efficiency goals, ACOs implement a variety of care delivery changes, including workforce redesign. Patient support personnel (PSP)-non-physician staff such as care coordinators, community health workers, and others-are critical to restructuring care delivery. Little is known about how ACOs are redesigning their patient support personnel in terms of responsibilities, location, and evaluation. We conducted semi-structured one-hour interviews with 25 executives at 16 distinct ACOs. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded for themes, using a qualitative coding and analysis process. ACOs deployed PSP to perform four clusters of responsibilities: care provision, care coordination, logistical help with transportation, and social and emotional support. ACOs deployed these personnel strategically across settings (primary care, inpatient services, emergency department, home care and community) depending on their population needs. Most ACOs used personnel with the same level of training across settings. Few ACOs planned to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of their PSP to optimize their value. ACO strategies in workforce redesign indicate a shift from a physician-centered to a team-based approach. Employing personnel with varying levels of clinical training to perform different tasks can help further optimize care delivery. More robust evaluation of the deployment of PSP and their performance is needed to demonstrate cost-saving benefits of workforce redesign.